Alexandra Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by Bene18
Summary: Girl!Harry fem!Harry Set in Alex 5th year. Alex is feeling lonely, angry and she wants nothing more than to see her friends and family again. But then she meets a boy named Rigel who helps her cope with her relatives and the horrific holidays. And why is everyone having secrets and not talking with her? Read to find out :)
1. Chapter 1: Summer Holidays

So far the summer had been horrible for fifteen year old Alexandra Potter. The heat was unbearable, as were the Dursleys, and she hadn't talked with someone in forever. For the last weeks, she had done nothing apart from wandering through the hot streets, picking up newspapers and desperately reading through them in hope of finding out something new.

She now sat on a park bench, the only one which laid in shadows, and starred at the dry ground angrily. She was kept in the dark about everything. After all that had happened last summer, after escaping death by a hairs breadth, witnessing Voldemort's return and Cedric Diggory's death, her best friends Ron and Hermione, and her godfathers Sirius and Remus wouldn't write anything informative to her.

 _"Take care, Alex."  
"We'll see you soon, Alex."  
"We're not allowed to tell you anything, sorry!"  
"Don't put yourself in danger, honey."_

That's all she got! Nothing about Voldemort or anything that happened in the magic world. Where was he? What about his Death Eaters? She had so many questions, but nobody was willing to answer them. What frustrated and irritated her the most was the fact that nobody seemed to care that she was spending her summer holidays with the Dursleys. The Dursleys, who had always hated Alex and never cared about her.

She forcibly had to return to Little Whinging, to her mother's sister, after Remus and Sirius got her when was four years old and found her beaten up in the cupboard. She knew that Sirius and Remus were really sad and furious that she couldn't spent her holidays with them like usual, but they had given in when Dumbledore insisted that it was safer for her to come back after Voldemort's return. It was horrible, living in a house where everyone hated her. Nobody cared that she barely slept 3 hours a night, because she'd rather stay up all night than close her eyes and see Cedric' dead eyes and hear his last scream. She didn't need to experience that dreadful night again, she even put up with the bags under her eyes, which were getting darker every night.

"I just want home," Alex whispered to herself, thinking of the nice house she normally lived in with Sirius and Remus and what she would do to be there. Nevertheless she hated that even though they ignored all her questions and apparently didn't want to see her, she still wanted to see them and talk to them. It made her heart clench and unclench painfully just at the thought of Ron and Hermione having fun and Sirius and Remus talking about good old times, laughing. How could they forget her that easily? The anger inside her swelled up again and she kicked a stone on the ground, immediately regretting it.  
 _Feeling something is better than feeling nothing_ , she thought as she had been feeling numb recently. Alex sighed heavily, still not understanding why nobody trusted her. While sitting on the bench Alex observed a mother with a little boy on the swing. They both were laughing, it seemed like they didn't have any worries in their lives, and at the moment she wanted nothing more than to have a similar life.

Alex looked at her watch. She sighed, it was nearly time for her to go 'home'. Her uncle Vernon would be furious if she came home after Dudley. She stood up silently, and with one last look at the family behind her, she left the park, still facing the ground.

It was as if her legs were carrying her on their own, because she wasn't concentrating on the road. Maybe this was the reason she bumped into someone hard and fell on the ground. Alex tried to move, but the person had somehow managed to fall on her, so she couldn't. The girl looked up at the person's face. It was a boy, probably in his late teens, his eyes were a wonderful shade of blue and his hair dark black. He was looking down at her and as he examined her face closely, a cheeky grin appeared on his face.  
Alex blushed hard, he was staring at her and hadn't bothered to stand up yet.  
"Um – would you – um – mind to move?" His grin vanished a little and his cheeks got red. He instantly moved up and also helped her to stand up.  
"I'm really sorry, I didn't see you coming," he apologized and smiled at her. "Are you okay?" He smiled widely and showed the sweetest dimples Alex had ever seen.  
The teenage girl smiled at him and cursed herself for not wearing something nicer.  
"Um – yes. I'm alright. What about you?" she looked at the tall boy.

The young man looked her deeply in her eyes and smiled, "Never been better" Alex blushed a little and scratched her head. She wished she could say something interesting and make him talk with her in a way. She only nervously tried to flatten her hair and looked into his eyes. She tried to figure out what caused her stomach to make loop-the-loops and a warm feeling spread in her. His eyes, she decided and grinned.  
There was a small silence between them when again he broke it  
"Oh and, how impolite of me, bumping into someone and not introducing myself. I'm Rigel Williams." He stretched his hand and Alex shook it politely.  
"I'm Alex Potter," she smiled but frowned as she noticed that a shocked expression flashed on his face. A second later he was smiling though, and Alex decided that she had imagined that.

"How come I have never seen you here before?" Alex asked curiously.  
"I'm actually only visiting my aunt, who lives down the road to the left," Rigel explained. "And I was just – um – exploring when I crashed into you."  
"There isn't much to explore, really." Alex chuckled.  
"I kind noticed that too", he responded.  
"Oh." Alex said and again she deeply wished that she could say something more than just "Oh". She tried to think of a question, maybe he wanted to be shown around in Little Whinging but she mentally snorted. Who wanted to be shown around in the most boring town on the planet?  
"Anyway," Rigel said with a look at his watch, "I don't want my aunt to worry. It was great meeting you, Lexi."  
Alex jokingly raised a brow. "Lexi?"  
He grinned playfully. "Don't you like it? I think it suits you perfectly."  
Alex smiled at him and retorted with a slight blush, "I'll think about that nickname. It was also great meeting you."  
"Oh and, I'll see you again?", he asked her, looking at her with a piercing look in his eyes that she feared to lose herself in them. "It seems like I'm stuck in here until September so yes," she chuckled.  
"Alright, see you then," he winked at her and walked down the street without another word.

With a small smile playing on her lips, and her worries forgotten, she headed back to the Dursley. For once she could ignore Vernon's degrading comments, Dudley's dumb sayings and Petunia's perpetual nagging.  
As soon as she arrived in her small room, she ignored Sirius', Ron's and Hermione's useless letter and cuddled into her blanket. For the very first time in about 3 weeks now, the anger and numb feeling in her stomach had disappeared and had been replaced with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Her insides were going crazy and it was ridiculous to think that someone she barely knew had such an impact on her. She smiled out of nowhere when she remembered his cheeky smile and his dimples. In that night after weeks without sleep, she slept peacefully in her bed, without seeing Voldemort, Cedric or other horrible nightmares. Maybe the summer wouldn't be that bad after all.

###

Special thanks to "Lavada Lenore" who was very kind and corrected this chapter for me. I am aware that I need to update the others as well. I will try to correct them as soon as possible, or maybe I will be able to find a Beta Reader.

Please continue reading the story, I will continue with it very soon.

B xx


	2. Chapter 2: It's just like magic

There was something about the old house that made everyone slightly uneasy. The place was too dark, to dirty, it was not a home. For Sirius nothing had changed, he remembered the old house of Black being like this for 16 years.  
Too many bad memories were haunting him, and if it wouldn't be for his best friend he wouldn't be able to cope with them.  
Guilt built up in his stomach as he remembered Alex. She was in a house where nobody loved her and he felt horrible just at the thought of her being alone. And he didn't trust them. He didn't trust the Dursley's. The last time she had been there, they found her in a tiny cupboard frightened to death and crying her eyes out. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and chanted it his head, "It's for her safety. It's for her safety"

Besides how must she feel after the incident in summer? She had been lying in bed three days after Voldemort's return and had refused to talk to anyone, only clinging to her blanket and pillow. Sirius eventually comforted her and when he reassured her that everything was going to be okay, he had to tell her, that she would be spending some time with the Dursley's.  
He knew how unfair it was and completely understood why she was angry with them.

He sighed heavily and looked again at his goddaughter's letter in his hand.

 ** _Dear Padfoot,_**

 ** _I don't know what's going on and I hate it here. (The Dursley's are ignoring me, don't worry, they won't be touching me). As you've been all ignoring my questions, I'll give in but I just want to know one thing: When can I come home again?  
Siri, please don't make me stay here any longer, I miss you and also Remus! (I hope he's okay after the full moon two days ago)_**

 ** _Love,_**

 _ **Alex**_

Sirius put his head in his hands and sighed again. He heard the door creak lightly and turned around to see Remus standing there.  
"You still haven't answered?" Remus came into the room and asked softly.  
"How am I supposed to answer? I either lie to her, or I say the truth and she will hate me then", Sirius spat bitterly.  
"Don't lie", Remus whispered and sat beside his friend.  
"She hates that"  
"Yeah, I know." Sirius was still looking angrily at the letter.

"Sirius, I know it's hard, but at least she's talking to you", Remus said. Sirius noticed the frustration in his voice. He handed him the letter, "Here. She's missing you too and hopes that you're doing well. She's just angry with us."

Remus scanned the letter with his eyes and smiled a little bit. "We don't deserve her, mate"  
"I know", Sirius nodded "And we'll be missing her birthday"  
There wasn't much Remus could say. The two would change something at the moment, if they only could.

Determined to finally respond to Alex ,Sirius jumped up from the chair and rolled out some parchment and immediately started scrabbling on it. Remus only observed his friend , understanding his frustration.

"What do you think?", he showed Remus the letter after he finished.

 ** _Pup,_**

 ** _We also miss you and wish that you were here. I'm going to talk with Professor Dumbledore about getting you out of there tonight and hopefully we'll see you soon, Prongslet._**

 ** _Please take care of yourself, we'll talk with you when you're here._**

 ** _Love you lots,_**

 ** _Padfoot_**

 _ **P.S.: If the Dursley's are giving you a hard time, let me know.**_

Remus finished reading it and nodded, "That's ok, Padfoot."  
Sirius sent Alex the letter with his owl and they both headed downstairs, where the whole Weasley family sat.  
Sirius frowned at them and turned to Remus and asked silently, "Is Rigel still not back?"  
"Seems so. But I don't think there was a problem. Otherwise the order would have told us, don't worry." Remus assured Sirius and clapped his shoulder.  
Sirius ,still not entirely convinced also sat on the couch and they avoided the subject. Too many noisy teenagers were around who tried to gather as much information as they could.

Rigel arrived at Grimmauldplace a little bit late, and ignored all the questions from the teenagers.

"I'm not allowed to tell, I'm sorry", he smiled at them and they just sighed. It was always the same. Especially Fred and George tried to get him to say something. So far he hadn't let any word slip out of his mouth but he still was really good friends with the twins.  
"Was there any problem?", Remus asked when 17 year old sat beside them with a butterbeer.  
"No, everything was okay.", he said and smiled a little.  
"Why were you late, then?", Sirius asked curiously.

"Um – I was exploring", Rigel blushed a little and then asked nervously, "Whose turn is it tomorrow?"

Remus yawned and answered tiredly, "I think Tonks', why?"

"I – um – could replace her, you know, she's maybe tired…"

Sirius raised a brow at him, there was something that he didn't like about his question. "I'd suggest you ask her personally", Remus said and before Sirius could say anything else, they were called by Mrs. Weasley for dinner.

Days past and nothing had changed. Alex was still at the Dursley's and it was driving her crazy and the anger inside her was growing day by day.  
The only positive thing about staying at her aunt's place was Rigel the Muggle boy she had met.

Whenever he was in Little Whinging they would hang out together and Alex really started liking him.  
One day he had suddenly pulled her by her hand and wanted to show her something.

"Rigel where are we going?", she laughed at him but still walked with him.  
"Shush, you'll see soon enough", he said and grinned at her sweetly. "Come on, faster!"  
"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"Sorry I forgot about your tiny legs!", he laughed at her but ran away when he saw her face.

Alex chased after him, "I'm going to get you for you this!"  
Rigel didn't know that she was quite the fast sprinter and she eventually reached him hit his arm lightly, he only laughed at her.  
"Forgive me, milady", he did a ridiculous bow and looked down at her.  
"You're such an idiot!", she laughed and shook her head.  
"That's part of my charm, you should know that by now!", he joked and made her laugh.  
"Yeah I actually noticed"  
"Oi don't hurt my feelings like that, Alex!", he mock pouted and Alex could only think that he looked so sweet like that.  
"We're nearly here, wanna see?", he interrupted her thoughts and grinned at her.

"No, I've just walked all this way down just to decide that I don't want to see, whatever you want to show me", Alex retorted sarcastically.

Rigel grinned at her, "I love your sarcasm, love".

Alex blushed a little and played it over, "So, what's so important then?" He took her by her hand and pointed at a field in front of them. It was coated with all different kind of flowers and the most astonishing thing about this field was that it had survived the drought. The fields nearby were all dark brown and colourless because the sun dried out all the flowers but this one, for some reason, had survived.

"That looks great", Alex smiled still feeling his hand in hers and she didn't change that of course.  
"DO you like it?", he asked eagerly.  
"It looks really beautiful", Alex responded without taking her eyes from the flowers. She had never seen those before.  
"But that doesn't make sense, how could the flowers survive without water?", Alex asked confused.

"It's like magic", she chuckled when Rigel only shrugged.  
But Alex didn't see that Rigel had gripped his wand in his jacket with his other hand tightly.  
"Yeah…just like magic", he repeated nervously and felt bad for pretending to be a Muggle and lying to her. He really liked her and didn't want to mess things up for once.

"What's wrong?", the girl had been looking at his face the whole time, noticing that he was struggling with something.  
"Nothing", he smiled at her. "But I've got to go now"

"OH ok", Alex sounded sad but she didn't want to show it.  
"You're also going home, aren't you?", he asked , "It's getting dark"

Alex narrowed his eyes at her, "You sound like my uncle, he says that all the time"  
"Uncle Vernon?"  
"No, I mean my like real uncle, Remus", she explained shortly.  
"Oh okay" Rigel tried his best to look confused at the name and look as if he heard it for the first time.

"Right here we are, I need to go now, love", he said and looked at her with a grin when they reached the end of the road again.

Before he walked down the road he kissed her cheek and winked at her. "Bye"  
"I see you tomorrow, Lexi"

Alex looked after him and touched her cheek slowly. "Bye" she whispered.

 **How did you like this one? Let me know. Please support by following and favouriting the story.**

 **Review are love.**

 **B**


	3. Chapter 3: Protection

Protection

 _There was pain. There was so much pain, it felt like her head was going to burst any second. Her wand slipped her fingers, and she pressed both of her hands on her head. The pressure on her eyes was so high that she saw sparks and fell on the ground. Alex felt Cedric touch her shoulder lightly, when she heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare"_

 _A second voice cried, without any hesitation, "Avada Kedavra!"_

A blast of green light blazed through her eyelids and Alex found herself in her bed, her covers soaked in sweat and tears running down her face. Her heart was beating loudly and she nearly didn't get enough breath. Trying to calm herself down, she sat up on the bed and hugged her legs to herself, listening to the silence in the Dursley's house. They slept so peacefully, without any worries, every night. And she was jealous of that. Jealous because nobody deserved seeing in his friend die, and reliving this moment every night was even worse.  
This wasn't the first time she had had a nightmare on what happened in the graveyard. She looked at the watch and saw that she had slept 4 hours. Not more. Alex was quite used to it now, whenever she was close to falling asleep, she knew that the nightmares would come again. Beside those, she for some reason also saw long dark corridors in her nightmares.

She rubbed her scar softly and massaged her temples. But the headache wouldn't disappear that fastly, she knew that. For one second, she considered writing to Sirius and Remus about her nightmares, but she thought that they wouldn't be interested in that anymore. Voldemort had returned, of course her scar would hurt.  
She had two hours until the Dursley's would wake up so she decided to sneak into the bathroom silently and take a shower.

After eating breakfast – you couldn't barely call it breakfast, it was half a toast with a little bit butter – Alex started repeating her everyday activities: Wandering around, picking up newspapers and hoping to finally get some new information out of her friends and godfathers.  
She turned into a small sidestreet in order to get to the park faster. At the end of the street stood a person, with a nasty grin on his rat-like face.  
She rolled her eyes and continued walking but he wouldn't let her pass through.

"Oi", Dudley's best friend yelled, and , "Where ya goin' Potter?"

"None of your business", she said through gritted teeth and tried to walk past him but he wasn't moving out of her way, nor attempting to.

"Such a beautiful girl", he smirked and eyes her up and down.

"Get out of my way", she said coolly but his smirk grew wider by minute.

"I like it when you're angry, Potter", he grinned evilly and licked his lips.

He tried to touch her cheek but she immediately backed off and her hands wandered inside her pockets. Her heart sank dramatically. Her pockets were empty. She had forgotten her wand in her room. She swallowed hardly and tried again to get past him but his hand clenched her wrist hardly.  
"Stop it!", she yelled angrily.

"Why so scared, Potter?"

"I'm not scared, now let me go before I-"

"Do what, Potter?", his rat-like face laughed loudly. "Try to run away?"

Alex tried her best to free herself from his grip but no chance, he was way too strong. The girl started to panick and hit him with one of her legs, but this only got him angrier and he now had both of her hands in his grip and slammed her against a wall.

"Stop it, you bloody bastard!", she squirmed under his touch but he only continued laughing.  
"The angrier you get, the more I enjoy it, beautiful!", he whispered in her ear and kissed her neck.  
"Stop IT!", she screamed but he kissed her hardly on her mouth shouting her up. Alex pressed her lips together, she wouldn't let it happen without fighting.

When he finished she screamed at the top of her lungs and hoped that someone, anyone would hear her and help her. He continued kissing her neck and there was no hope for her. Most of the people were still having breakfast, at it was hot. Not a lot of people were outside, especially not on a side street. Alex was pale and green in disgust and she felt tears welling in her eyes when he tried to touch her under her t-shirt.

"Shhh, Potter", he mocked her, "nobody's here to help you-"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that", Alex heard an angry voice say dangerously. Rigel leapt forward and pulled Piers from Alex.  
Dudley's friend stumbled and fell on the ground and looked scared now. Rigel stood there with rage written across his face and his hands balled into fists. Alex swallowed hardly and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and put a chewing gum in her mouth. She tried her best to get rid of the disgusting taste in her mouth, while she could only observe a very angry Rigel look at Piers.

He tried to stand up but Rigel brought him back to the ground with a very hard punch in his face.  
Piers was the one screaming now while Rigel shook his hand lightly.

"What do you think you were doing, huh?", Rigel glared and punched him again in his face. "Don't you dare touch her ever again, are we clear?"

Piers looked up at him, his nose was bleeding and he had a black eye. Rigel couldn't contain his anger and hit him again, "If I ever see you near her again-"

Piers was now hiding his face and whimpering on the ground. Alex went to Rigel, "Rig, stop. Please, stop."  
Piers heard her and stumbled on his feet, running out of the of the side street, out of there sight. Rigel stood there breathing heavily and shook his hand lightly, still looking after Piers.  
She winced while massaging her wrists and tears welled up again in her eyes at the thought of what nearly happened.

"Come on, love", Rigel whispered and pulled her into his arms. Alex hold on to him tightly and was so glad that she had met him. He saved her from a horrible experience and she cried silently into his t-shirt.

He caressed her hair softly and whispered, "Sorry, that I wasn't here earlier. Everything's going to be ok."  
She only nodded and closed her eyes.

"I won't let him touch you ever again, Alex", he whispered into her neck and held her tightly. "I promise you that, love.

"Thanks, Rigel", she said and but frowned when she heard him flinch. She let go of him and saw what made him wince. In the attempt to hurt Piers for trying to rape Alex, his right hand was bleeding as well.

"Rigel, you're hurt!", Alex said loudly and her anger focused on Piers once again. All this was his fault.

Rigel chuckled lightly, "It's nothing, love". He caressed her cheek lovingly and smiled at her.

She noticed her heart making a small jump whenever he called her "love" and she smiled at him, noticing how his gaze was soft and his eyes protective. Those wonderful blue eyes which now were staring at her lips.

She swallowed again but this time it was different. Fireworks were exploding in her stomach, her cheeks got red and her heart wouldn't stop aching.

He slowly moved his head to her and smiled lightly.

"Are sure?" , she whispered slowly, not being able to contain her excitement in her voice. She moved her head in his direction and closed her eyes slowly.  
His lips were inches apart from hers.  
"Completely", he leaned in and closed the distance between her lips and kissed her.

Alex stood on her tiptoes and put her hands around his neck while his were on her hips. He put both of his hands on each cheek and controlled he kiss which was in so many way different than Piers 'kiss'. His lips were soft and nice and he caused butterflies in her stomach to fly around. He didn't make her feel uncomfortable in any way, quite the contrary she enjoyed every second of it and was disappointed when they had to break apart to catch their breathes. He laid his forehead on hers and whispered.

"Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer"

Alex only grinned at him and felt a wave of protection coming from Rigel.  
"Thanks for saving me, Rig", she said and took his hand in hers, reminding herself that his hand still needed to be flicked.

He laid and arm around her shoulders and responded, "Always, love. Always"

 **As always, please let me know what you think.**

 **Reviews are love.**

 **Bene**

 **P.S. : Hope I didn't make a lot of mistakes.**


	4. Chapter 4: Finally leaving

**Finally leaving**

The days in Little Whinging went on, and it got hotter each day, as if staying with the Dursley's wasn't bad enough. They reminded her every minute that she wasn't welcome and called her names and especially Dudley and Vernon always searched for opportunities to make fun of her. Her aunt Petunia found a lot of chances to nag and remind her of her "freak mother". Alex tried her best to ignore them but her blood always welled up dangerously, that's why she either stayed in her small room or walked around in the park, doing nothing, knowing nothing. She didn't even intend to tell Sirius or Remus about that, they both didn't care to give her any information about anything, so she had stopped talking to both of them and ignored their letters, thinking that they both deserved that.  
Alex usually met up with Rigel, who always succeeded in making her feel better and laugh but the girl hadn't seen him for two days now and was feeling miserable.  
She lay on the grass under a tree and smiled at the thought of him and thought about their kiss again and how he had rescued her from Piers but these good feelings were overpowered by the bad ones. The anger inside her just wouldn't ease and she also felt bad because she was lying to Rigel. She hadn't told him anything about her being a witch and the magical world, not that it was easy to do so. In addition they didn't know each other that long, she couldn't just tell him her whole story, he probably would freak out, think that's she's completely crazy and then leave anyway. And the problem was, she didn't want him to leave. Because he was the first person to ever like her because of her as a person and not because she was "The-girl-who-lived". Rigel didn't know anything about her being famous, and yet he talked to her, made her laugh, rescued her, and kissed her passionately and treated her lovingly. She definitely didn't want to lose that.  
Alex sat up and sighed, and decided to go "home" where useless letters of Sirius, Remus and her friends would be waiting for her in her room, where she would again cross out a number on her calendar, counting down the days she would be able to go Hogwarts again. She walked down the lonely road and suddenly felt like something was going to happen. Little did she know, that she was actually true.

She paced around the room while pressing a lot of tissues on her bleeding lip, still not having realised what happened. Dementors, in little Whinging, she couldn't believe it. She actually was happy to be alive, it had taken her three attempts to conjure the Patronus charm. Worst of all, she has to attend a trial, in which the ministry will decide if she is allowed to go Hogwarts again or not. And then there was ! An old lady who had started talking with Alex randomly on the streets, always offering her to have a look at her cats and spending time with her. What Alex had thought was an old, lonely lady, had turned out to be someone Dumbledore hired to keep an eye on her! had been watching her all summer, following her around, like someone who's not to be trusted! She wondered angrily if Remus and Sirius knew about that, and figured that they probably did. They had approved of someone following her secretly, they just didn't care about anything at all! Tears of anger at the world and at so many people appeared in her eyes while her lower lip stung and wouldn't stop bleeding.

"Dudley, you idiot", she whispered to herself and examined her lip in the mirror. Her cousin had thought that she was the reason for the sudden coldness and darkness in little whinging, not knowing anything about the Dementors and had hit her hardly on her face. She winced as she pressed a cold tissue on her now swollen lip and let, after three horrible weeks, her tears fall freely from her eyes. Everything was just so unfair, and she hated how her life was going at the moment, she hated everyone and everything and was mentally exhausted. She hated it that everyone was lying to her and not willing to tell the truth, that everyone she loved and trusted wasn't trusting her!

"It seems like Rigel's the only one I can trust and who is telling the truth", she thought bitterly and wiped her tears away and sat on her desk, angrily taking out pieces of parchment and started writing

 _I've just been attacked by two Dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here._

Alex copied these words on four separate pieces of parchment and addressed the first one to Sirius, the second one to Ron, the third to Hermione and the last to Remus. She gave them all to Hedwig and watched her owl disappear into the night, hoping to get answers soon.

ON the next morning she woke up with a horrible pain in her lower lip, which was swollen and got blue around the edges. She didn't leave her room for the day, even though she was craving to see Rigel and just forget everything around her for a moment. The Dursley's were ignoring her, as usual, they also acted like her lip was perfectly fine and not bruised, she even saw Dudley and Vernon high-five and grin in her direction.  
On the second night, Hedwig still wasn't back with any answers from her family, Vernon entered her room and grunted, "We're going out"

"Sorry?"  
"We – that's your aunt, Dudley and I", he explained angrily.  
"Fine", Alex shrugged. As if she cared, they would close her door to her room anyway.  
Before leaving the room, he warned her about not touching anything in the house, especially not the food and electronic devices. Alex shrugged it all off and laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling, ignoring her throbbing lip, the numb feeling inside her, the anger in her stomach and just trying to think what she had done to deserve all that.  
She was trailing off into an uneasy sleep when she heard noises in the kitchen. She tensed up in her bed, her wand immediately in her hand and listened closely. There was silence for a few seconds, then again, voices. She jumped from her bed, her wand facing the bedroom door, which now was moving. Someone was moving the lock, while others where whispering and then finally the lock gave a loud click and her door swung open.  
"Stay where you are, or I'll blast you away", she said with her wand raised and glared at the people. She seemed way braver than she was, because her heart was beating loudly in her chest.

"That's my girl", a voice chuckled near her and her heart made a small jump happily.  
"S-Sirius? Is that you?"  
"Why are we standing in the dark?", a voice asked and suddenly there was light and there were a bunch of people, some unknown others not, in her doorway. Nearest to her was her godfather Sirius.

She ignored all the others and immediately jumped into his arms, making him nearly fall over, and hugging him tightly to herself. He laughed at her greeting and hugged her just as tightly back. She had sworn to herself to not talk with them anymore, that she wouldn't just accept an apology but for now, she needed her godfather to hug her.  
"I've missed you so much, Pup", Sirius whispered in her neck and kissed her head. She only pressed her head into his chest, and knew that everything was going to be okay now. Sirius let go of her and looked at her closely. His smile instantly faded when he noticed her bruised lip and a look of deep concern appeared on his face.  
"Who did that?", he asked at once, the others were standing there awkwardly watching them interact.  
Alex only blushed and lowered her head, "Um – I – I just fell. Clumsy me, you know me, Sirius"

Tonks grinned, "Happened to me too, quite embarrassing"  
Sirius ignored his cousin and only raised Alex' chin with his fingers and examined her lip. "Don't tell me that you fell, Alex, you obviously got hit! Talk with me, pup"  
Alex got angry again, "You didn't talk with me either! For nearly four weeks"  
Tears welled up in her eyes and Sirius looked at her with a guilty expression on his face.

Someone coughed loudly, "We've nearly got to go, I thought you wanted to disappear from here as fast as you can?"  
She recognised her old professor Moody, not the imposter of course, or so she hoped and nodded.

"Alright then", Sirius clapped his hands together, trying to hide his concern for Alex. If the Dursley's touched her again, he would kill them.  
He lay an arm around her shoulders, kissed her temple and said, "We'll talk later, honey"

She nodded and they all headed downstairs. Somehow everyone who didn't know her was looking at her in awe and were watching her face closely.  
"She looks just like you said she would!", a woman in a green cloak said excitedly. Alex blushed and smiled a little.  
"Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus." said a bald black wizard with a deep voice. "She looks exactly like Lily."

"Remus? Where is Remus?", Alex said confused and asked her godfather who smiled over her shoulder to Remus, who stood there by himself at the doorframe.  
Alex grinned at him and ran into his arms as well.  
"Hello, cub" he greeted her silently and kissed her head. His eyes also fixed on her lip and he frowned.

"What happened to you-"

"Moony, later mate"; Sirius sighed and Alex nodded awkwardly and turned back to the people who wouldn't let her out of their eyesight.  
She stood there between Sirius and Remus and smiled at them while she was introduced to Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Dedalus Diggle and Kingsley Shaklebolt.

Sirius grinned at her, " A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you"

"The more the better" Moody said, "We're your guard, Potter!"

Alex nodded and turned to her godfathers, "Look, what's been going on recently? What's Volde-"

"Not here, Potter!", barked Moody dangerously while all the others had winced at the name.  
Alex sighed again and shook her head. Nothing had changed. Sensing what Alex was thinking, Remus hugged her to himself and whispered, "We'll talk later, I promise."

After gathering all her things up and standing in the dark outside a thought suddenly came into her mind. She wouldn't be able to see Rigel anymore. He would come back here and search for her and not find her anymore. She felt horrible that she would disappear just like that, without explaining, without saying goodbye. She didn't want to give up that relationship.  
"What's the matter, honey?" Sirius asked softly.

"Nothing", she said.

"Let's go then", Remus smiled.

They all mounted their brooms, and nodded at each other. Alex looked back at the place that had wanted to leave for such a long time now but she also wondered if you would meet Rigel ever again.

 **Hope you liked it.**

 **Reviews are love. Please follow and favourite.**


	5. Chapter 5: He lied

**Chapter 5: He lied**

As much as Alex loved flying, she was more than relieved when they finally arrived at their destination and were allowed to dismount their brooms. Her whole body was shaking and her teeth clapping against each other, she couldn't feel her hands anymore and her lip felt very sore.  
Sirius hugged her to him, trying to warm her up, even though they all were cold.  
They all waited for Moody to come over to her and he handed her a small piece of paper, which she took but looked at it confused. The narrow and clean handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said:

 _The Headquaters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

"What is the Order-" Alex began.  
"Not here, girl!" snapped Moody and pulled the small piece of parchment from her hand and set fire to it with his wand. Alex looked at Sirius and Remus for help but they wouldn't say anything so she looked down the street, expecting to see a house with the number twelve, but there wasn't one to be seen.

"Um….there's no-"  
"Think about what you've just memorized, Alex" Remus advised softly, rubbing his hands together.  
Alex thought, and then out of nowhere a house appeared between the houses 11 and 13, she could only gasp as a black door and windows appeared on a dirty wall.

"What the he-"

"Language", Remus warned her and Alex smiled at him. It was just like it used to be. "I missed you, Remmy", she whispered to him but they both were disturbed by Moody who growled, "Come on, now! Wrong time for family moments".

Remus and Alex grinned at each other and they walked up the stone steps and waited for Sirius to open the door, he didn't look that happy about it.  
They pushed Alex inside and told her not to touch anything, moments later, they all were standing in a dark hall. One by one entered the oddly dark house and they all talked in hushed voices. She got curious and wanted to explore so she headed for a door on her left but Sirius held her back, "Stay where you are" His tone was rather harsh and she looked at him apologetically not understanding what send him off like that.  
At the end of the hall a door opened and Mrs. Weasley hurried towards them and embraced Alex into a tight hug.  
"It's lovely to see you, Alex" She held her at an arms-length and examined her state. "You look a little bit peaky and tired, and merlin, Alex what happened to your lip?"  
"It's – it's nothing really."  
The people who had volunteered to get her all entered the room and talked about a meeting, before she could follow them, Sirius and Remus held her back.  
"Alex go upstairs for now, honey. Hermione and Ron are already waiting for-"

"You said you would explain everything?" Alex exclaimed hurt. She didn't want this whole 'let's-not-talk-to-Alex-thing' start again.  
"We'll talk later, I promise", Sirius stated, kissed her head and they both rushed into the room leaving her in the hallway all by herself.

Naturally Alex was happy and to be with Remus and Sirius again, and also to be reunited with her friends, but it wasn't really easy to forget about all the anger that had been building up for nearly four weeks in her stomach now.  
So when Hermione and Ron stated that Dumbledore let them swear to not tell Alex anything she snapped.

"Look, Alex we really wanted to talk to you" Hermione said with sadness on her face, "But-"

"Dumbledore made you swear, yeah that's what Ron already said" Alex snapped and turned to the window, away from her friends.

She could feel them exchange an uneasy glances and Ron continued sheepishly, "He seemed to think it was best. Dumbledore"

Hermione nodded, "He thought you would be safest with the Muggles"

Alex laughed bitterly at that, "Safest, yeah? Have you two been attacked by two Dementors this summer?

"Well no, but that's why he had people from the Order tailing you all the time-"

"You knew?" Alex hushed in a deadly whisper. "You knew that I was followed around, that people were secretly hiding and keeping an eye on me? And you didn't tell me?"  
Hermione and Ron both swallowed hardly, lost on words.

"Well it didn't work now, did it?" Alex said sarcastically. She tried her best to keep her voice calm and hide her true feelings. "I still had to take care of my arse on my own, and now I have to go to a bloody trial!"

"Are you con-"

"No", Alex lied at once. "And you what? I am so glad that there wasn't anyone to help me because otherwise I would have spent my whole holidays at this horrible place, trying to contact you and just to get to some information, while you two were here, knowing what's going on."

"We don't!" Ron protested hotly, "We not allowed near the meetings-"

"OH SO WHAT? YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED AT THE MEETINGS, BUT YOU WERE STILL HERE TOGETHER AND NOT ALL BY YOURSELF AFTER ALL THAT HAPPENED! I CAN BARELY SLEEP AT NIGHT BECAUSE I THINK ABOUT CEDRIC AND BECAUSE I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE ON WHAT'S GOING ON, IT WAS ME WHO HAD TO SEE HIM COME BACK AND HAD TO FIGHT A DRAGON AND MERLIN KNOWS WHAT ELSE, BUT HEY YOU WEREN'T ALLOWED TO GO TO THESE BLOODY MEETINGS, BIG DEAL!"

She breathed heavily and sat on the bed and rubbed eyes and noticed that she had scrapped her lip open with her teeth. She held a tissue to her lip and listened to Hermione's teary apology.

"We really wanted to tell you everything Alex. We really did, and we're sorry"

Alex only nodded and saw how both their gazes now fixed on her lips. They opened their mouth to ask but she shut them up with a glare.  
After they explained everything about the house, the order of the phoenix and the society, what they had been doing these four weeks, after Fred and George appeared with a loud plop in the room they were finally called down for dinner. Alex was starving and she only noticed that now.

There were a lot of people in the kitchen, some helping Mr. Weasley others not. Sirius and Remus went with Alex to another room, where they wanted to mend her lip and finally talk to her.

Alex didn't talk to them, she only stared at the ground angrily.  
Remus lifted her chin softly with his finger and caused her to look into their eyes.  
He smiled a little and warned before he raised his wand, "It's going to sting a little"

Alex nodded and prepared for the pain which really came, she winced and groaned but that was it.  
"Are you okay?"  
Again, she only nodded.  
Sirius sighed at her and claimed, "Look up, pup"  
She did and he smiled at her and cleaned her small wound and when he finished he said, "Looks better now"  
"Thanks"

Her guardians of 11 years sat on each side of her and Remus asked softly, "You want to tell us how that happened."

"I already-"

"Alex don't give me that story about falling again!" Sirius groaned. "What happened?"  
Alex avoided their eyes so her godfather continued nicely, "I told you to tell me immediately if the Dursley's were giving you a hard time, honey."  
Alex sighed and leaned back on the sofa and laid her head sleepily on Sirius shoulder. "Dudley was there when the Dementors attacked us. I had my wand out, he got scared and thought I was doing that and then hit me"  
Sirius glared in the air, how dare he touch his precious goddaughter.  
"So you got hit!"  
"Yes, but that's different, I mean it wasn't nice but he was just scared"  
Sirius and Remus still looked didn't look very convinced so she continued, "It's not that bad, really."

Remus mustered her face, "You still should have told us."  
She only nodded and rubbed her eyes again. Sirius and Remus both noticed the dark circles under her normally happy and energetic eyes.  
"So the Dursley's didn't really hurt you?"  
She shook her head.  
Sirius lay an arm around her shoulders and said silently, "I understand why you're angry and won't talk with us, I would be to. Just know that we both love and missed you"  
Alex mouth twitched a little and she nodded.  
"Oh and I nearly forgot", Sirius continued darkly. "The only places you're allowed to go to, are you sleeping room, the living- kitchen and eating room and also the bathrooms"

Also frowned at that and Remus explained, "We haven't checked if all rooms are safe, and don't want you in them, especially not in the library."  
"Alright", she agreed.  
"Let's go get some dinner and then you can immediately go to bed, honey"  
Alex didn't argue with them on that one, she just wanted to finally cuddle into a warm big bed and sleep happily.

They were finally all sat around the big wooden table, Alex between Sirius and Remus, feeling better than she had in some days. They were waiting for dinner to be ready and were talking loudly with each other when Mrs. Weasley entered the eating room with food.  
"Where are Fred and George? What are these boys doing?" exclaimed loudly. "And where's Rigel?"

Alex, who had been drinking in that exact moment, coughed loudly and got red in her face.

"Ri-Rigel?" she asked with big eyes.

Her friends looked at her both amused and concerned. "Yes, dear,ah of course, you don't know him yet, he's – ah here they come. Settle down, boys! Dinner is ready"

Alex couldn't believe her eyes. Next to the Weasley twins stood a tall boy with blue eyes and dark hair and looked at her awkwardly. She only starred at him, and felt a great jolt in her guts as though she had just missed a step going downstairs. It just couldn't be true, this didn't make sense at all. What was he doing here? Rigel was standing there, among wizards and witches and hadn't said a word yet.

Mrs. Weasley looked at the young boy confused, "Settle down, dear, Rigel"

"Oh and Alex, that's Rigel Avery", Fred explained, grabbing bread. She winced at the name and her face got hard and emotionless. So he lied to her. Just like everyone else, he even lied about his name.

"That's Alex Potter" Ron grinned at the boy, "But you probably know her anyways"

"He's the only one in this house, whose a teenager and works for the Order", Hermione explained. Alex hadn't touched her meal and was still glaring at Rigel, a boy who was supposed to be in Little Whinging. But then she suddenly realised.

"You work for the Order", she spat. Now everything made sense. He had been one of those who were supposed to protect her. So everything Alex thought they had had, was only an act, a job, nothing more, he played with her. He had talked to her and spent time with her because it had been his job, she had been his job. Dumbledore had hired him, to act like he was nice, and spent time with her. And she had been such an idiot and thought that he actually liked her for who she was and not because of her status not because she was famous, famous Alexandra Potter. She had some experience with people who only wanted to use her but this was by far the worst that had happened to her. Nobody had been so cruel to actually make her feel good and kiss her just for a job. A mission.  
"Well – um – yes " Rigel stuttered and looked at her apologetically.

She ignored him and played with the meal on her plate. She wasn't hungry anymore.

 **Next chapter you'll see more of Rigel & Alex, I promise.**

 **Please don't forget to follow and favourite. I hope you liked this one, this a little bit longer than usual.**

 **Reviews are love.**

 **Bene**


	6. Chapter 6: The house of Black

**The noble and most ancient house of Black - and other difficulties.**

The night had taken a horrible turn for Alex. After being freed from the Dursley's and finally being surrounded by her family and friends again, she discovered that she was lied to – again. By none other than Rigel Williams, or rather Rigel Avery, who, she had thought was a Muggle boy who lived in Little Whinging with his aunt and who liked her because of her personality – and definitely not because she was famous Alexandra Potter who needed a guard to be able to survive. When realization stuck her that he had started talking with her only because it had been his job to protect her and make sure she was okay, she just _knew_ that he acted all the way. His kindness – just an act, his sweet way to make her laugh – just an act and worst of all: his kisses, which she had loved and which had made her feel good even in Little Whinging – nothing but an act. Unfortunately she hadn't noticed anything, but it was very obvious for her when he suddenly stood there in the kitchen among all the other wizards and witches and acted like nothing happened, like nothing had happened between them.  
"I'm so stupid", she said to herself for the seventh time that night in her bed and felt so upset, sad and angry. Looking at the other two beds, she noticed that Hermione and Ginny were already sleeping, Ginny's mouth was open and she slumped back against her pillow trying to catch some sleep but not succeeding. Alex yawned loudly and decided to get some warm milk from the kitchen, just like she used to when she was a kid and couldn't sleep. She tiptoed out of the room, into the dark hall and downstairs into the kitchen, where the room laid in shadows, only a few candles were burning which was a little bit creepy. Her house and home, the one in which she normally lived with Sirius and Remus was always bright and very welcoming.  
She searched in all the kitchen cabinet for milk or anything at all to drink but she was unsuccessful.

"Damn it!" she swore and hit the kitchen counter angrily but then froze as she heard someone cough behind her.  
Rigel stood there awkwardly in blue pyjamas and mumbled, "Um – if – if you want something to drink –"  
"What do you want?" Alex spat bitterly and glared at him, but also surprised that he was standing there suddenly.  
"I – I couldn't sleep and – and just heard…" he tried couldn't really bring out a sentence.  
"Why don't you go to your 'aunt'? She must be worried, 'Williams'" Alex shouted, not caring if someone would wake up and hear her.  
Rigel sighed and rubbed his face, "Alex, I – I." He shook his head. "I just should have told you."  
"Oh really?" she snapped sarcastically. "What makes you think that?" she continued in a loud voice, her voice was dripping with sarcasm and she turned to leave again.  
He looked at her apologetically and held her back, "Please let me explain, love"  
She turned with a furious glare to him when she heard that word, which only reminded her of her stupidity.

"Don't you dare call me that again!" the hurt girl claimed in a hushed whispered, "Ever"  
"Please let me explain" he begged her and tried to touch her shoulder but she only backed off of him.  
"There is nothing to explain!"  
"But-"  
"Look you already did your job, I'm perfectly fine and safe, now why don't you stop with your act and leave me alone?"

He sighed again, "It wasn't only a job! Alex, please believe me, it wasn't like that!"  
She raised her brows at him, "So you weren't there because you had to guard me?"  
A slight blush creased on his cheeks and he mumbled, "Well, yes but….but only at the beginning-"  
"Oh, only at the beginning, this makes everything so much better now!" the girl laughed sarcastically and wanted to leave again.  
"Alex it wasn't like that!" he repeated desperately.  
"Well, then explain!" she shouted. "Tell me how you only started talking to me, because it was your job! Or how you acted like you were spending your summer holidays at your aunts, and even lied about your name! About your bloody name, Rigel! And how – how."  
Alex broke of and swallowed hardly, she tried her best to push her feelings and tears down but it was really hard, considering that she had really liked him and tears welled up in her eyes.  
"How you were there talking with me every day, only because it would have been more exhausting to stay under the invisibility cloak!" she continued with a trembling voice.  
"How – how you had the nerve to ki – kiss me every day, acting like the nice little Muggle boy and didn't even mention that you were a wizard! If this is what you want to tell me then don't even start! You were only playing with me!"  
She looked at him with tears running down her cheeks and she wiped them away with her hands.  
"Lexi…" he whispered softly and made an attempt to hug her.  
"Don't! Just don't, Avery!" she sniffed. "Didn't you prove already that trusting you once was a mistake?"  
Rigel breathed heavily he was at the edge of losing his temper even though seeing her cry broke his heart, "You just don't get it, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what I was doing!"  
Alex crossed her arms on her chest and ignored that she only had her pyjama's on. "Oh and why so?"  
"Merlin Alex!" he shouted "Because of the Order! Because it was my…." But then he stopped, he understood what Alex was trying to say.  
"Because it was your what, Avery?" a challenging glint appeared in her wet eyes.  
"Because it was my job" he finished through gritted teeth, "But this doesn't prove anything!"  
"Oh really? For me it proves a lot of things, Av-"  
He groaned loudly and glared at her, "Will you stop calling me that!"  
"It's your name! I could also call you 'Williams' if you want to."  
Rigel stood there angrily, "Snape was right, you really are stubborn!" As soon as his words came out, he regretted it but Rigel was too proud to apologize again.  
There was an awkward silence in the kitchen and Rigel hoped that he only imagined her eyes getting wet again.  
His blue eyes got soft and he asked, "I heard about your lip. Was it Piers?"  
She narrowed her eyes coldly and cried, "Why would you care anyway?"  
He only looked down at her, regretting so many things and then chuckled and shook his head.  
"You know for once, for once I thought I was doing something right"  
Alex turned around to hide her tears which just wouldn't already stop and whispered, "Well, you weren't."  
Before he could reply both of their heads turned to the door. They both heard the stairs creaking loudly and the black wooden door opened slowly and a very sleepy Remus with tousled hair and a confused expression entered the room. IN his hand he was holding his wand which he then lowered.  
"I just thought I heard something", he said through squeezed eyes and looked at them.  
"What are you two – Alex are you crying?" he immediately said alarmed, his overprotective side coming out.  
She only lowered her head when he reached her, "Alexandra what's wrong?"  
Remus turned to Rigel and furrowed his brows. "What did you do to her, Rigel?"  
Rigel's eyes got wide and he was lost for words but Alex spoke already.  
"Nothing, Remus. He didn't do anything. I – I only had a nightmare and couldn't sleep", she lied sheepishly. He instantly bought it, it was probably because she had woken up every night crying in the beginning of the summer. His face showed nothing but worry and he hugged her and kissed the top of her head.  
"Everything's going to be alright, cub"  
Remus held her against him and the girl only hugged him back. She would have had a nightmare and needed comfort anyway.  
"I – uh – I'm going back to sleep. Good night" Alex heard Rigel say awkwardly and they heard the door close.  
Remus hold her at an arm's length, brushed her tear from her cheek and they walked to the couch together. He got them a blanket and laid on the couch and Alex snuggled up next to him. He hugged her and asked, "How many times do you have nightmares, sweetheart?"  
"Every night", she yawned silently and but laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes listening to his heartbeat, which she thought was very calming.  
"Do you want to talk about them?" He felt her tense next to him and she only shook her head.  
"I could make a sleep potion for you, Lexi?" he suggested and kissed her temple gently.  
"No, s'alright." She spoke with half-closed eyes.  
"You sure, cub?"  
"Mhh hmm"  
He stroked her hair and smiled down at her, thinking of the time when she was only a small child and sneaked into his or Sirius' room whenever she had a nightmare, this had been the only way to calm her down and get her to sleep again.  
He kissed her head and whispered, "Good night, sweetheart."  
Alex didn't answer though, she was already sleeping snuggled up next to her godfather, with her head on his chest. They both didn't move until the very morning when they were woken up by a smiling Mrs. Weasley to eat breakfast.

The next day was quite eventful for all the teenagers. Because they had all insisted to help the Order of the Phoenix the previous night, Mrs. Weasley let them all decontaminate the rooms claiming, "You wanted to help, there you go"  
She of course knew that they had meant something totally different but there wasn't any way out of this. With sprays in their hands and their mouths covered, they tried their best to de-Doxying the curtains, it took then a really long time to do so.  
Rigel had decided to help them out which everyone thought was very nice of him. Everyone except for Alex, she had decided to ignore him completely and only hope that he just wouldn't bring up anything that happened in the summer between them. They were wildly discussing what the 'weapon' Sirius talked about the previous night could be but had to stop after Mrs. Weasley glared at them sternly, therefore the students all were working silently on their own.  
Alex noticed Fred and George sneaking some of the Doxiys inside their bags. She raised a brow at them questionably and the three of them walked further away from Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Rigel, so the twins could explain.  
"We want to experiment with Doxy venom for our Skiving Snackboxers" George explained under his breath.  
"Range of sweets that make you ill, for a period of time, so you can skip a lesson you don't enjoy very much" Fred added silently and grinned.  
"Sick!" Alex said and couldn't help but grin herself.  
"We've been able to do this all because of you, so thank you again" George grinned from ear to ear and Alex laughed. She had forced them to take the thousand Galleons prize money she had won to help them realize their ambition.  
Alex noticed that Rigel was looking at the three of them with a questioning look but George explained when he saw her expression.  
"Don't worry about Rigel"  
"He knows everything about the shop, he's really cool about it"  
"Even helped us with some products!"  
The twins were apparently getting along with and Fred lowered his voice again, " He's pretty decent, won't tell any secrets, which can be annoying because he won't tell anything about what the Order is doing, but he's also very funny."

"How – um – come he's in the order anyway?" the red-headed witch asked.  
Fred shrugged, "Dumbledore did him a favour, you know. He's been not home since he was eleven and like this he can help, we have another person who's on our side and he's got a place to sleep and eat" He sprayed two Doxyies at once and grinned triumphantly

"Everything he learned – self-taught. Impressive, right?" George added  
"What do you mean he hasn't been home, where was he?" confusion was written across her face.  
George sighed, his normally grinning face turned unnaturally serious, "Alex, think about his last name…."  
Her eyes got wide, "Wait. You mean…you mean… Avery the death eater, is his – his dad?"  
The twins exchanged dark looks and nodded.  
"When he got sorted into Gryffindor though, his parents disowned him and sent him away from home. Quite horrible"  
"And then?" she continued asking.

Fred agreed with his brother and he answered, "We don't know more, he doesn't like to talk about it too much, mind you, who would?"  
Feeling the gazes of the others on their backs, they turned to the curtains again and continued with de-doxying them and Alex was actually happy about that. While working she forgot about the trial she soon had to attend and also about everything that happened with Rigel, while working she was so distracted that all her fears and feelings were forgotten.

It wasn't until lunch that they were able to make a break and she was reminded of her trial, Mrs. Weasley called them loudly and after washing their hands the teenagers made their way to the kitchen hungrily.  
Before entering the kitchen, which smelled deliciously after her favourite dish, Alex noticed an interesting looking tapestry in another room. The tapestry looked immensely old and was faded. However, the golden thread still glinted brightly and to show her a sprawling family tree which dated back to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read:

 _The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black Toujour Pur_

Her eyes scanned the tapestry carefully, searching for her godfather's name. It was horrible to think that he grew up in a dark house like this, unloved and misunderstood.  
His name was nowhere to be seen which was odd to her but then she noticed a large black hole following the lines from Orion Black and Walburga Black. She touched the round charred hole, which looked a lot like a cigarette burn softly with her fingertips.  
"She blasted me off after I ran away from here", she heard her godfather explain silently behind her. He had been looking for her and found his too-curious-for-her-own-good goddaughter in this room.  
Sirius came to her and chuckled bitterly.  
"You went to dad's place, right", Alex asked, staring up at her godfather.  
He smiled at the memory, "Yes. Your grandparents were really good to me, sort of adopted me as a second son. When I was seventeen I got my own place but I always was welcome at Mr. and Mrs. Potter's for Sunday lunch."  
Alex smiled at him but he wasn't looking at her, his gray eyes were fixed on the very bottom of the tree. He pointed at the name "Regulus Black" and shook his head bitterly, but she also noticed sadness shining through his eyes.  
"My Brother. He was younger than me", he spat bitterly "And died"  
Alex, who had never heard him talk about his brother in 9 years, wondered out loud, "What happened to him?"  
"He joined the Death Eaters, stupid idiot."  
The girl next to him felt her jaw drop, "You – are – kidding !"  
"Oh come on, Alex, haven't you seen enough of this place to tell what kind of wizards my family were?"  
"I – I just thought – I don't know, I thought your brother would have turned out, you know, like you", she whispered, more to herself than to him. Sirius laid an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head lightly.  
"I hoped that he would too, but he got himself killed because he tried to back off at the end. I guess you could say he wasn't that bad, after all", he responded sadly.  
Alex noticed another familiar name on the old tapestry. "You and Tonks are related!"  
Sirius chuckled at that, "Yes, her mother Andromeda was my favourite cousin, and look, she isn't on here too"  
He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Narcissa and Bellatrix.  
Alex could only gape at the family tree. She looked at him shocked, "You are related with Malfoy!"  
Sirius tensed a little and narrowed his eyes, his voice had gone cold again, "That's because all pure blood families are related, Alex."  
The girl looked now at the name to the left of Andromeda's burn.  
"Sirius! You really are related to Bellatrix Lestrange?" Her hazel eyes were wide in shock.

"You never said she was your-"  
"Does it matter if she's my cousin?", Sirius snapped at her harshly. "As far as I'm concerned they're not really my family, especially not her! D'you think I am proud of having a relative like her?"  
Alex looked taken aback at his tone, "I – I am really sorry, I didn't mean – I was just surprised Siri"  
He looked at her apologetically and rubbed his face tiredly , "Don't apologies, honey, it doesn't really matter, this house is driving me crazy, I shouldn't shout at you"  
He hugged her to him and then changed the topic, "Tomorrow's the big day, I'm going to escort you to your hearing together with Arthur, to give you moral support, how does that sound?"  
She tensed and felt as though her stomach had sunk through the dusty carpet as she thought of the trial again. Alex and paled visibly and immediately lied, "Yeah sounds great."  
He sighed a little but nevertheless smiled at her, "Don't worry, prongslet. I'm sure they're going to clear you of all charges, they just have too, there's definitely something in the International Statue of Secrecy about being allowed to use magic to save your own life."

Looking at her shoes she asked silently, "Siri, if – if they expel me – you won't be sending me to the Dursley, right?"  
He furrowed his brows, "Alex, you won't be expelled!"  
"But – but let's say I will, I don't have to go back there again, do I?"  
He sighed at her, "Of course not, honey. You're still living with me and Remus, no matter what happens and as long as you want to, okay?"

She hugged him happily and they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice calling, "Hurry up, you two, or there won't be any food left!"  
Sirius looked scandalized and they both headed for the kitchen to finally eat something.

 **Wow. This chapter killed me, I just never was happy with the way it turned out, nevertheless I hope you enjoyed reading. Besides I still don't know how I'm going to get Rigel and Alex to talk with each other. Hm. Ideas are welcome.  
The support for this story has been amazing so far, please continue :) **

**Reviews are love.**

 **Bene**


	7. Chapter 7: The Ministry of Magic

**Chapter 7: The Ministry of Magic**

Alex lay wide awake in her bed at half past five in the next morning. She had woken up abruptly as if someone had yelled in her ear. For a few moments she didn't move, while her heart beat loudly in her chest, and she could only think about the disciplinary hearing on which her future depended. Unable to bear the tension anymore, she leapt out of bed silently and put on her best clothes. A black blouse and a pair of tight jeans. Neither Hermione nor Ginny stirred when she crossed the room, grabbed her shoes and with one last look, left the room, wondering if she was going to see these two in Hogwarts again and closed the door softly behind her. Still in her thoughts she made her way down the stairs, past the heads of Kreachers ancestors and down into the kitchen. Alex expected the kitchen to be empty but when she reached the door she heard the soft rumble of voice on the other side.  
She pushed the door open and saw Sirius, Remus, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks and Rigel sitting around the table. They all looked up at her and it seemed as though they had been waiting for her. They all were fully dressed and smiled at her and Mrs. Weasley immediately jumped up, her wand in her hand and announced, "Breakfast!"  
Alex took a seat between Sirius and Remus and felt them both eying her.  
"Good morning, cub." Remus whispered and gave her a smile.  
"Morning." she responded silently and couldn't even fake a smile. She bit her lip nervously and looked at Sirius who also smiled at her. His smile didn't reach his eyes though and he also seemed to be nervous.  
"Sleep good, pup?" Sirius asked softly.  
"Yeah… alright" they could easily tell that she was lying. Mrs. Weasley hurried over to the fire and asked with a lot of enthusiasm, "What do you want, Alex? Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and Eggs?"  
She rubbed her forehead unconsciously and answered, "I don't want anything, Mrs. Weasley, thanks!"  
The woman's face fell slightly and her fake smile seemed to ease a little.  
"Alex…try to eat something, sweetheart" Remus suggested gently. She shrugged and said, "Um…Toast is alright, Mrs. Weasley"  
Remus and Sirius still glanced at her then continued their conversation.  
"What were you saying about Scrimgeour, Tonks?"  
Before the young auror could answer, she yawned loudly, "Oh…yeah…well, we just need to be a little bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions"  
Alex was more than happy that her godfathers knew her good enough to know that she didn't want to be included in the conversation. Her insides were squirming and she also felt either Sirius, Remus or Rigel looking at her with concern in her eyes. Mrs. Weasley placed a couple of pieced toast and marmalade in front of her but it was hopeless, she couldn't each much, it was like trying to chew a carpet. She felt a pair of eyes on her again and noticed Rigel looking at her worriedly. After holding eye contact with her for a moment he smiled at her, he suddenly stood up, made a cup of her favourite tea and placed it right before her. A slight blush creased up her cheeks and she mumbled a silent, "Thanks". He smiled at her softly, "It's alright"  
She sipped on her cup of tea and discovered that it actually helped a little with the tense feeling in her stomach and concentrated on their conversation again.  
"….and I'll have to tell Dumbledore that I can't do night duty tomorrow, I'm just way too tired!" Tonks finished, yawning loudly again.  
"I can cover for you, if you want to" Rigel suggested nicely and smiled at her, "I haven't been on duty for a long time now, anyway"  
Tonks smiled at him gratefully, "That'd be really great, Rigel!"  
The young member smiled at her as Sirius and Remus turned again to their pale goddaughter.  
"I'll need you to stay calm while being in court, alright?" Remus ordered carefully.  
She nodded and Sirius rubbed his hands nervously, "Only talk when you're asked, pup. Don't tell them anything you don't want them to know."  
"And tell them the truth you've got nothing to worry about!" Mr. Weasley added enthusiastically with a big smile.  
"Everything will be alright, you'll see", Tonks smiled gently. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rigel staring at her and giving her an encouraging look.  
Of course she understood that they only wanted to cheer her up and help her but nevertheless she could see Sirius nervously rubbing his hands and the way his laugh didn't reach his eyes, she could easily tell that Remus always staring in her direction carefully and anxiously wasn't a good thing and the way Mr. Weasley was over enthusiastic, and let alone Mrs. Weasley who was cooking eggs and bacon while rubbing her hands on her white skirt. She knew that probably everyone in this house beside Kreacher and Sirius' mother was scared that she might be thrown out of Hogwarts. And hell, nobody as much as she was.

"Alright, pup", she heard Sirius voice shake her out of her thoughts, "We'll need to go now, or we'll be late"  
With trembling feet she made her way to her coat where she took a last look on herself in the mirror, deciding that she wouldn't show any signs of weakness while being in court.  
"Ready?" Mr. Weasley asked.  
With a determined look on her face she nodded and all three of them made their way to the trial.

She had always liked Sirius' office, Alex thought that it perfectly represented him and it reminded her of their home. Sirius always liked showing his character to the people surrounding him. His desk was messy with paperwork he still hadn't done, his feather lay forgotten next to a map with a lot of circles on it, on the left corner of the map he had scribbled some notes. There were also some heavy looking books on the wooden table, some open, others only in stacks. Sirius' desk was decorated by pictures of himself and Alex, in which they were laughing into the camera. Another one showed probably 6 year old Alexandra on his lap while he kissed her temple. She looked around the auror's office and noticed some notorious deatheaters faces looking at her, the headlines all were written in large and bold letters and said: Wanted.  
She frowned as she noticed that those were all cases he had finished months ago.  
Sirius grinned at her, "So how do you like it?"  
"It hasn't changed at all Siri" Alex chuckled.  
"I know" he laughed.  
She pointed at the pictures of all the deatheaters he had caught, "You should update these though, don't you think? I mean you caught them all some weeks before my fourth year ended"

He suddenly ignored her gaze and started tidy up his desk. "Yeah… you're right. I'll do that when I get the time."  
Just in that moment the door to his office opened and his colleague, another Auror he worked with on different cases, entered. At the sight of them he froze instantly, his gaze wandered from Sirius to Alex. For some reason Sirius also tensed visibly.  
"What are you doing in here, Black" the other man spat. His eyes fell again on Alex and he starred at her coldly, causing her to swift uncomfortably. Sirius stepped in front of Alex protectively and glared back.  
"I am in my own office, McClaggen!"  
"Own office?"  
"That's what I said"  
A smug smile appeared on McClaggen's face once again. "You know, you could have been great. Even the head of the department"

He paused looking at Alex again, "But you clearly choose your side"  
Sirius approached his colleague dangerously close, "Well, yes I did"  
"Shame, Black. But I guess now, you'll have time for godfather's duties."  
Alex frowned at that. What was he playing at?  
"Is that all?"

The other man grinned evilly and leapt forward to his desk where he snatched one of the heavy books.  
"Scrimegeour send me", McClaggen claimed. "He said seeing as you aren't working and won't be getting any new cases you don't need those anymore." He gestured to the books.  
"What?", Alex whispered. Sirius threw her a quick gaze to make her understand not to interrupt once again and then turned to the man.  
"Get out of my office!"  
McClaggen grinned and made his way to the door.  
"As far as we can see, you also won't be needing the room anymore, so let's see for how long this is going to be your office, Black!"  
"I said get OUT of my office!" Sirius voice was shaking dangerously.

With that McClaggen disappeared and left them both in silence.  
Sirius looked miserable and Alex finally found her voice. "What did he mean, you're not working anymore?"

"Come on, let's go to your hearing."  
"Sirius!", Alex protested, "You love your job! At you're bloody good at it! Why wouldn't you work anymore?"  
"Alex", he retorted sternly. "This is nothing that you should be worrying about"  
"Cmon!"  
"Alex!"  
"I just don't understand, this doesn't make sense! Why did he treat you like that! Don't tell me you refuse to work because of the paperwork!"  
He turned to her sternly and screamed, "Alexandra, that's enough, don't push it!"  
She didn't say anything further because she knew when it wouldn't make much sense to discuss with Sirius. Whenever he called her by her full name sternly, she knew that she had to stop and just let him cool down.  
She nodded and they both left the room going along the corridors next to each other in silence when loud noises made them both look back.  
"Is that…Kingsley?", Alex whispered.  
At the other end of the corridor they saw Kingsley running towards them, Kingsley who normally was very calm seemed to be stressed out and anxious about something. As soon as he reached them, the auror made an abrupt halt and he told them, "Hearing – they changed time – already started!", he panted resting his hands on his knees and then clutching one on his chest.  
Sirius and Alex both paled at once, looked at each other and then again back to Kingsley.  
"What are you waiting for?! Go. GO!" Kingsley shouted at them and goddaughter and godfather started running at once.

Sirius and Alex sprinted through long corridors, some crowded others were empty, used the elevator two times and after passing long and dark corridors, they stopped in front of a massive wooden door with a large handle on it.  
She turned to him frightened to death, listening to her own heartbeat and was lost for words.  
"Good luck" was the last thing Alex heard before her godfather pushed her through the door and gave her one last encouraging look, sending her alone to the trial.

She stumbled back into the room and turned around only to notice a large group of people, one part in blue, the other in violet robes starring down at her. The air was filled with tension and mysterious whisper erupted at her presence, some were even adjusting their glasses to have a better view on her.  
"You are late" a loud, booming voice said and silenced the others around him. Alex swallowed loudly as she noticed the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge starring down at her with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. Alex swallowed hardly, she just couldn't see how she was going to get out of this safely.

 **Hello people,**

 **sorry that I let you down for such a long time, I just had to study a lot for my A Levels. Please don't be disappointed by this chapter, I know that it's not the best, I just didn't want to loose you as readers, so just see this as a small present. I will try my best to improve with the next chapters, and you won't have to wait this long again. Promise.**

 **Bene**

 **P.S.: Let me know what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8: A variety of moods

**Chapter 8: A variety of moods**

"Professor! Professor Dumbledore!" Alex shouted after Dumbledore happily. The old headmaster hurried out of the large room without even sparing a look for her, leaving her confused but also hurt in the hearing room, where chairs were moved around, papers put in bags and all the people were attempting to leave the room. She sighed heavily wondering why he didn't stop in order to talk to her. Was he disappointed in her because she hypothetically had broken the law? Or did he get in trouble because of her, because of helping her out in a situation like that? Alex was lost for words at the moment. Not only had she seen a lot of people's hands raised in favour but she also was cleared of all charges. She followed the different groups of people getting out of the room, some were eyeing her suspiciously other looked bewildered, while they all whispered to each other.  
"Did you hear that?"  
"Yes, full corporeal Patronus!"  
"Unbelievable."  
"Yes, Lupin. A former teacher."  
"At 13! I know!"  
She actually had to chuckle at that. It was like being in school, the only difference was that there wasn't teenagers talking behind her back, but adults.  
She reached the door and saw her godfather trying to see her among the crowd coming out of the room at once. He was running his hands through his hair and chanting, "Oh shit, shit, shit." Under his breath  
"Oh I thought you were _completely sure that they wouldn't expel_ me?" Alex said, a hint of amusement in her voice and grinned widely when she finally reached him.  
He starred at her, "You…are you?"  
"Nope, cleared of all charges!"  
"Really?! Oh thanks Merlin" that was the only thing she heard before Sirius was nearly suffocating her with his hug.  
He finally let go of her and looked at her, a confused expression plastered on his handsome face, "But…but Dumbledore, what-"  
"I don't know" she frowned and shook her head.  
"He just stormed out of the room without saying anything."  
Sirius furrowed his brows, "He didn't talk to me either that's why I thought…you know… that you were expelled, honey. But anyways! Let's go, we've got to celebrate!"  
He laid an arm around her shoulders and they headed back home – or the Grimmauld place rather, leaving Mr. Malfoy and Cornelius Fudge at the other end of the hallway, glaring at both of them.

*

*  
The next hour was a mixture between being hugged, people exclaiming "Thanks god" relieved and Fred, George and Ginny shouting "SHE GOT OFF, SHE GOT OFF" over and over again until Mrs. Weasley lost her temper and shouted at them to "finally shut up".  
Alex grinned at them fondly, "It's great how you're all saying you knew I would get off but at the other side I have never seen you look so relieved before in my life."  
Remus chuckled at her and kissed her head fondly, "Well let's say we were a little concerned, honey"  
"A little?" Alex looked up at him and shook her head. She hugged the twins, Ron, Hermione Ginny and without even noticing she found herself in Rigel's arms.  
His hugs were just as comforting as she remembered from Privet Drive and she melted into the hug without wanting to. He whispered softly, "Congrats love" into her hair and squeezed her softly. Hit by realization what was happening she felt her face become hot and she pushed herself from his chest. The blushing girl noticed Remus looking at her weirdly but she was saved by Mrs. Weasley, who called everyone for lunch, apparently nobody beside her to suspicious godfather had noticed the embarrassing moment.  
"What was that?" grinned Hermione causing her to blush yet again. "What? Nothing!"  
Hermione shook her head and laughed "Uh huh".  
They finally all sat around the table to enjoy the meal and Mrs. Weasley tried to get Alex to eat as much as she could.  
"You hardly ate anything at breakfast, dear", exclaimed Mrs. Weasley and pushed a plate with sausages, beans and eggs in front of her. Alex smiled a little and started eating happily. The others around the table were also eating but they were busier with firing questions at Alex.  
"So how was it?" Ron asked with a full mouth. While Hermione shot him a disgusted look, Alex shrugged.  
"Fudge wouldn't let me talk or even answer the questions, until…well… I just couldn't bear him spreading lies, so I lost my temper"  
Everyone turned to Remus, he had just groaned loudly and was rubbing his face.  
"Alex! What did I tell you, honey?"  
"Even you would have lost your temper, Remus!"  
He only sighed, "Alright, alright. What happened next?"  
"I told them that I had to use the Patronus charm because of the Dementors. I mean I was basically only saving my own life, the Dementors would have sucked my soul-"  
Sirius winced at that, "Honey…don't – don't even say it"  
"Sorry." She shot him an apologetic look. "You know, all in all they were only implying that I was lying because I was an attention seeking person and according to them, there weren't any Dementors in Little Whinging at the time."  
Sirius looked angry at that and shook his head.  
"Fudge has lost his mind" mumbled Sirius to nobody in particular.  
"He's blinded by fear, Padfoot" Remus shook his head at his best friend.  
"When did Dumbledore come in?" asked George and took a bite from his sausage.  
"At few minutes after the trial started, if it wouldn't have been for him, they would have expelled me for sure."  
"Why?"  
"He brought this crazy cat lady as a witness…"  
Remus raised a brow at her. "Alex" he said warningly.  
His goddaughter rolled her eyes, "Oh I mean Mrs. Figg, who was kind enough to spy on me - just like some others"  
Rigel looked up from his plate to look at her. "Your own fault" he thought. "I just shouldn't have lied to her to begin with."  
Remus sighed at her, "We're sorry about that, cub. But don't ruin your day with things that has already happened, you're going to Hogwarts, that's what matters."  
Alex smiled at him brightly, he was right after all. What would she have done all alone in this house?

*

*

The days went on and everyone was in a good mood, having little chats and laughs here and there. There was only one person in Grimmauldplace number 12 who seemed to get moodier with each day. Sirius looked grim and unhappy, he sometimes snapped at them and appeared to be in a bad mood constantly. They were all sitting around dinner one evening, Mrs. Weasley had decided to prepare a nice meal, even some members of the Order stayed over but he was nowhere to be found, which didn't go unnoticed by Alex. She kind of felt alone without Remus and Sirius by her side, Remus was on secret duty for the order and hadn't been in the house for two days now and Sirius wasn't being himself in this house.  
"Have you guys seen Sirius?" she asked her friends who only shrugged.  
"Should I help you look for him?" Rigel suggested with a small glint of hope in his eyes.  
"I'll handle it myself but er – thanks" She had decided to try to be nicer to him considering his behaviour towards her. He always seemed to smile at her, help her with some housework and they sometimes also talked with each other, leaving Alex with butterflies in her stomach, which she – obviously – would never admit to anyone.  
Alex left the table after thanking Mrs. Weasley for the delicious meal and went upstairs to Sirius' room.  
She knocked softly on the wooden door and waited. "Sirius? Siri…c'mon, it's me"  
Nobody answered and as she opened the door Alex looked around the room. Sirius wasn't there, his bed was tidy as was his drawer. She groaned loudly and said, "Oh for heaven's sake, Sirius!"  
Alex decided to break Sirius' holy rule and wandered around the whole house, looking in every room for her godfather. She had already checked the whole second floor when she started slightly panicking. Where was he? On the third floor were only two doors leading to different rooms. On one door was a small poster, which said "R.A.B; Do not enter" the other one showed a calendar counting down days to Hogwarts.  
Alex smiled a little at that door, this just had to be Sirius' old room. This time, Alex only opened the door without knocking and looked inside. The room was decorated with different Gryffindor posters and other ones, an old-fashioned bed stood in the middle of it, a small drawer with a large mirror was located on the other end. The redhead examined the drawer, especially the pictures on them when she heard a loud plop.  
"Lexi?"  
She turned to her godfather who had been laying under the bed as Padfoot and looked at him.  
"Nice room, Sirius" she said coolly and looked particularly at the posters of half-naked Muggle women. His cheeks got a little red and he rubbed his neck nervously, "Don't judge me on that, I only wanted to get on my mother's nerves."  
She smiled a little, "Right"  
He stood up, a worried look had appeared on his face, "What's wrong, pup?"  
She examined his face. He looked tired and dark circles were around his sunken eyes. Alex was rather touched that no matter how Sirius felt, he was always worried about her but she still cared about him.  
Alex sat on the bed and he copied her motions and sat next to her. His goddaughter sighed, "You know that I should be asking that question right?"  
"Huh?"  
"Sirius, what's going on with you?"  
He put his head in his hands and sighed, "Nothing…I just…nothing."  
"Nothing? You've been sneaking around the house and snapping at people. You won't even come to eat with us! You hardly laughed the last days. This is not you, Siri."  
He looked up at her and starred into her eyes. "It's complicated, and besides that, I wouldn't want you to worry about me…"

Alex swallowed and came straight to the point, "You're not allowed to work anymore, are you?"  
Sirius remained silent for a moment and then finally started speaking, "I got into a fight with some colleagues. I overheard them talking about…"

"Me" finished Alex.  
"Yeah." He nodded his head sadly and ran his fingers through his black curls. "And… and Scrimgeour tried talking me into delivering you to the Ministry. He said it would be great for my career and that I could replace him one day, he even offered me money! And well – let's say I didn't take that very well." Alex looked at her godfather with sad eyes, he had to give up his job because he stood by her side and protected her.  
"I'm sorry, Sirius" she whispered and looked at him apologetically.  
"Lex, you don't have to apologize." He said softly but this expression got grim again, "Bloody idiot, thought that I would sell you to the Ministry, he even expected me to tell him stories about how 'crazy' you are"  
Alex now knew why he was upset. For Sirius, it all was kind of a Deja-vu. This wasn't the first time people had thought that Sirius would sell his friends, his loved ones and his family to Voldemort. Years ago a lot of people had accused him of being a traitor, and doing exactly that to James and his family. He even had to spend some days in Azkaban, until Dumbledore had been able to convince the Minister to hold up a trial for him. It was really hard to relieve all this horrible things especially when you're stuck in this house. She also knew that his childhood was horrible, even though he never went into detail and preferred not to talk about it.  
"Can't you just act like…I dunno…like you hate me? And like you think I'm a horrible person just for the sake of your job? You could tell them that I'm all nuts-"  
Sirius turned to her outraged, "What? No! Alex, what do you think of me?"  
"I just thought that you could give them what they want! Crazy stories about Alex Potter, I'm used to being talked about, Sirius, one person more or less doesn't matter."  
Sirius looked at her oddly, "So me believing you doesn't make a difference?"  
She sighed and shook her head, "Of course it does. You know that, but you could just act like it."  
"Pup, I wouldn't do that, I'm not turning my back on you, just so I can work for a bunch of idiots!"  
"But-"  
"No, Alex!" he interrupted her, "Once the truth is out, how is everyone supposed to believe you if I acted like you were a maniac beforehand? No, I would never do that."  
She nodded slowly, "Ok."  
He sighed heavily and whispered, "And then there's this house…this bloody house. And my mother."  
She only looked at him concerned and let him continue, while he was looking at his hands.  
"When I left I swore myself that I would never come back" He chuckled bitterly, stood up and looked at the pictures. He was holding one in his hands, Alex couldn't tell which one.  
"All the memories are coming back, haunting me. I hated it here. Every second. I couldn't wait until I was able to see my friends again. " His voice was thick with suppressed emotions.  
"I know how you feel" she whispered and searched for his eyes. "Believe me, after this summer I really do."  
He turned back to her, guilt was written across his face. "I am sorry, Alex. I'm really sorry that I made you go to this place again. I of all people should have known better."  
She smiled at him and hugged him tightly. "You just wanted to protect me, I guess. Not saying that spying on me, ignoring my letters and not talking to me was a good idea though."  
He caressed her burgundy hair gently, "How can I make up for that, pup?"  
Alex grinned at him widely, "How about you come down, have dinner and laugh with us again?"  
Sirius actually chuckled at that, he kissed the top of her head softly and said, "Sounds good, honey."

She didn't know what was wrong with her. This feeling was rather knew to her, surprising herself the most.  
"He is your friend!" she muttered to herself sternly. "Get a grip on yourself"  
She couldn't believe that she was actually jealous and behaving the way she was. Alex couldn't remember ever being jealous of Ron. Not because she was so much better than him, no she never thought that, but because she normally would be happy for him. He was her best friend after all and they went through everything together. But since the Hogwarts letter had arrived and Ron had gaped at his golden prefect badge in his hand, a weird feeling had spread in her. In the last days, she had been so stressed about her trial, that she had completely forgotten about the prefects. Even so, what would she have expected?  
"Not that" Alex thought and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She then buried her face in her hands, she just couldn't lie to herself. If she would have known that the prefect badge was on its way, she would have expected it to come to her. Alex was sickened with herself, how could she be so arrogant, she thought. Did she really believe she was better than Ron? Hadn't she proven to Dumbledore several times that he could trust her? After all it was her who had to fight Voldemort in her first year, save the Philosopher's Stone, it was her who saved Ginny and fought a Basilisk, who chased hundreds of Dementors from the Hogwarts grounds. Not to mention last year. She was forced to see her friend die in front of her eyes and Voldemort return. Didn't he think she was able to be a prefect?  
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.  
"Occupied" she groaned without moving from her spot in front of the mirror.  
"Yeah for about 15 minutes now, Alex!" she heard Rigel snap through the door. In that moment she was happy to be in the bathroom, her cheeks got red instantly and she felt embarrassed.  
Opening the door she saw Rigel leaning on the wall, grinning at her widely.  
"Thought you'd never come out"  
She felt her cheeks getting hotter again and glared at him in return. "There are two other bathrooms, don't tell me they're-"  
"Occupied." He finished. "Both of 'em"  
Alex didn't speak for a moment, but she also didn't want to go back into the room. She heard the laughter coming from it and just couldn't be bothered to deal with anyone at the moment.  
Rigel had been watching her face curiously and his dark blue eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"  
He took her by surprise, and she wasn't able to form an answer to his ridiculously simple question.  
He continued to stare at her and then, all of a sudden he whispered softly, "It doesn't matter if you're a prefect or not, Alex."  
She felt ashamed of herself. Had she been that obvious?  
"It's not?" she barely whispered while looking at the ground.  
"No." he said with determination. "Isn't it just important to be able to go to Hogwarts?"  
Alex sighed and nodded her head, "I'm an idiot, worrying about stuff like that, when you spend only two nights in Hogwarts."  
He chuckled at that, "Yeah. Only that's important. But thankfully this year will be different."  
Her head snapped up within half a second and she felt her heart beat against her chest suddenly, "What do you mean?"  
He smiled at her again, it was the same smile he only smiled for her, "Didn't I tell you? I'm off age, which means I can return to Hogwarts now!"  
"N-no you didn't tell me" she was only able to stutter.  
He showed of his dimples again and winked at her. "Well you know now, love"  
With that, he disappeared into the bathroom and left Alex by herself in the dark. He's coming to Hogwarts, she thought. Alex had forgot about the prefect badge and now it seemed completely stupid to worry about that. Who cared about being a prefect, it only meant more responsibility and duty. Rigel was going to come to Hogwarts, she thought again and found herself smiling and her heart beating happily. She had to shake herself out of her perplexing thoughts and went back to join the others.

 **Reviews are love - as always. So please let me know what you think.  
Bene :) x**


	9. Chapter 9: A trip to Hogwarts

**Chapter 9: A trip to Hogwarts**

He stood in front of his trunk and stared at it, then grabbed his scarf and folded it – _again_. Looking at his case he checked its content and noticed that he had everything he needed, the books were carefully packed next to his clean shoes, jeans and shirts were underneath. His uniform laid on top of all the other clothes, neatly folded and the red and golden Gryffindor colours popped right into his eyes. He shook his head just at the thought of it – He was going to Hogwarts once again, after all those year of only daring to dream about the beauty of the Great Hall, the warmth of the common room and even the classrooms, it was happening. This was all due to the headmaster Dumbledore, of course. Years ago it had seemed so surreal, almost impossible and deep down he had come to terms with the fact that he wouldn't get the chance to go back again, but this, the trunk in front of him, the schoolbooks inside, his new found-friends waiting for him downstairs, they all proved that it was actually happening, that it wasn't his imagination playing a trick on his or that he wasn't just having a dream.  
Nevertheless he sighed a little at the pressure he was feeling in his stomach. It was mostly excitement and incredibility that this chance has been given to him once again. But he was undoubtedly nervous. He was a new student, starting in his six year but he definitely felt like an 11 year old boy all over again. How would the other student feel about him? And what about the teachers? At least, he thought, he didn't have to be sorted into a House yet again. And he had friends, he got along greatly with Fred and George, who had promised to introduce him to Lee Jordon and there was she – Alex. He would be with her at Hogwarts, he would see her regularly and Sirius and Remus, wouldn't be there. As much as he liked them and worshipped them, they both were extraordinary protective when it came to their goddaughter! Something that seemed to ease his nerves as well, was that he was a Gryffindor, a proud one too and he didn't care that this was to begin with the reason he had had to leave Hogwarts, was abandoned by his parents and was forced to live on his own. With one last look, he closed the trunk and grinned slightly.  
"Rigel we're leaving!" he heard Ron shout from downstairs, he probably just risked waking up Mrs. Black.  
With one last look at his room, he opened the door and shouted "Coming!" and made his way down the old, dusty stairs, passing Kreacher's ancestors, Mrs. Black's canvas and then joined them, an excited grin plastered on his handsome face.  
"You ready?" Alex whispered softly to him.  
His heart made a small jump, "Course, let's go"

 _A few minutes earlier  
_ The students stood in the hallway and waited for Rigel to finally be ready to go. They all knew that it was a special occasion for him, so they gave him all the time he needed, even though they risked running late. The past half hour had been very stressful for every each and one of them. Mrs. Weasley and Sirius' mum had been screaming through the whole house, both at the top of their voices. While Mrs. Weasley tried giving orders, reminding everyone of the time they did not have and organizing lunch for her children, Alex, Hermione and Rigel, Mrs. Black insulted everyone who passed her painting.  
They all were fantastically excited of course and couldn't wait to sit in their compartments on their way to their second home, where another year at the most famous school for witchcraft and wizardry was starting.  
"Can we talk to you for a second?" Sirius whispered to Alex. She had expected that, it had just been a matter of time when her godfathers required a word with her, reminding her of the dangers of the outside world. They hadn't had that much time for her lately, both busy with the Order and the secret work they did for the organization.  
She and her godfathers slipped into a room and Remus closed the door behind them.  
She smiled at their concerned faces. "I know what's coming. 'Be a good girl and stay out of trouble, try avoiding danger and study' "  
Remus, who had been looking quite older and more tired these days, smiled back at her.  
"Well…yes…Please stay out of danger, and…" he sighed and looked at her concerned.  
Alex wanted to comfort him, so she hugged him tightly knowing that after her fourth year, they were quite scared for her safety and even though both of them wanted her to get a proper education, they couldn't deny how scared they actually were for her safety. Especially after joining the order, they became aware of the dangers that could creep upon her any second. There were so many things she didn't know, and it seemed ridiculously unfair to ruin a childhood and simple but special experiences like a trip to Hogwarts with reminders of pressure and the burden Alex was under.  
"Just make sure that nothing happens to you, honey" he whispered to her, letting her go and placing a kiss on her temple.  
"I will, don't worry, Remus"  
Sirius was just as scared as his best friend, he looked at her in a very unusually serious way, "I want you to know that this year won't be easy for you."  
She looked at them confused, "What do you mean?"  
"Alex, the people are believing all the lies the ministry of magic is telling about you" Sirius told her gently.  
"So just be prepared to face a lot of different opinions on what's going on or what happened last summer." Remus added while running his finders through his thick but graying hair.  
"And in these situations we need you to stay calm and just ignore whatever you hear, because sadly you'll be hearing a lot of bullshit and just….just be careful and keep your temper, sweetheart."  
She sighed and nodded.  
"Especially after what happened last summer I want you be cautious, don't go anywhere all by yourself, don't leave the castle when it's dark and don't trust people you don't know, alright?" Sirius reminded her again, worry was shining through his gray eyes.  
Again, there was nothing she could do beside nodding her head but then an idea struck her mind and she furrowed her brows again.  
"Is someone from the order going to spy on me?"  
Remus and Sirius shared a quick look before Remus responded, "We want to be honest with you, Lex. There will be people keeping an eye on you, yes…it's just for your protection"  
She opened her mouth in protest but Sirius continued. "But there will be nobody eavesdropping and listening to your conversation, or excessively following your everywhere, we also will only get informed if something happens, so no need to really feel watched, we made sure of that"  
She sighed, "Of course….but…is Rigel one of them?"  
Her godfather seemed confused at her question, "I don't see why it would matter but it's nothing fixed…but as far as we know, he's actually there because of Hogwarts and not to keep an eye on you."  
She smiled a little and they stayed silent for a minute. Sirius looked at his watch and continued quickly.  
"And whenever you need to talk to us, we're here for you, don't forget about that." her godfathers smiled but Alex had something else concerning her, "What if one of the letter is caught by the ministry and is read?"  
Remus and Sirius instantly grinned at each other. "Well we, brilliant and clever as we are, have actually thought of something"  
Sirius pulled something out of his pocket, it was wrapped in a brownish paper and looked rather old. She unwrapped it, and a square mirror appeared underneath it.  
Alex only furrowed her brows "You want me to talk to myself in the mirror?" she suggested jokingly, they laughed it off and explained immediately.  
"That's a two way mirror, honey"  
Alex starred at them just as confused as before.  
"A two way mirror is one in a pair of mirrors that are magically connected. This will allow us to communicate with you, even though we are in different locations. All you have to do is call mine or Sirius' name and we'll appear in your mirror." Remus explained perfectly and Alex eyes lit up and her heart warmed up. This had been an unspoken worry of her, how to communicate with Sirius and Remus? Yes, they made sure that she was safe, but she also wanted them to be safe and with the risk that some letters got checked, she didn't want to let any important information slip. "That's – that's just great, thanks!"  
Before they could continue their conversation they heard Ron call Rigel impatiently and with that they joined the others again in the hallway again.

*

The platform was packed. With families saying their goodbyes, with students searching for their pets and friends reunited, who were talking excitedly about their summer holidays. As Alex walked she felt people starring at her, some had the decency to point with their fingers at her, and then turn to someone and whisper something with hushed voices. "Don't mind them", Remus whispered and put his arm around her shoulders in a protective manner, while Sirius glared at the people.  
"You've got everything you need?"  
"Yeah" she scratched the back of her neck, thinking of all the students surrounding her, who were either getting out of her way as if she'd be killing them any second or just talking behind their hands about her.  
Sirius caressed her hair, knowing exactly what was going through her head.  
A warning whistle sounded and the students started hurrying on the train. Sirius hugged her tightly, "Write…and talk to us."  
"I will" she whispered into his neck and for a split second she considered staying with him, leaving all the people who doubted her, behind. However she figured that would be quite cowardly, and she was a Gryffindor after all.  
"Love you, little one." Sirius kissed the top of her head and ruffled her hair traditionally, causing her to blush.  
She straightened her hair again and glared at him, "When will you stop doing that, Siri?"  
Her godfather grinned brightly at her and winked, "Never"  
She rolled her eyes and turned to Remus.  
"Be good and study, alright", he smiled at her.  
She smiled again and hugged him goodbye as well.  
"Love you, Remus"  
"Love you too, cub"  
Mrs. Weasley was also hugging them at random, catching some of them twice. Alex caught Rigel blushing as Mrs. Weasley hugged him twice and laughed at him.  
For one brief moment Alex starred at her godfathers and hoped they would be alright. She knew that they were doing rather difficult jobs for the Order and especially Remus had been looking exhausted with every day that past. She waved at them, they waved back and in a matter of seconds they were only blurs, caused by the railing train which gained a lot of speed and soon she left them behind on the platform. Alex touched the mirror inside her pocket, and it seemed to give her hope somehow, so she turned to the group again.

"Well" said Fred rubbing his hands together, "we've got business to talk about with Lee, so see you around later"  
With that the twins disappeared down the corridor, greeting some students here and there, and laughing about something, probably already thinking of some new plans on how to get on Flich's nerves and of how to bring him to the edge of tears – again.

Alex turned to her best friends, "Shall we go and find a compartment then?"  
While she had expected exclamations of agreements, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous looks.

"Um – well – Alex….Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage" Hermione explained awkwardly.  
"Oh – of course, right", said Alex, "Yeah – fine"  
"We probably don't have to stay there the whole journey -" said Ron hurriedly, trying desperately to hide his excitement.

"No, it's – it's fine" she forced a smile and didn't want them to feel bad about it.  
"See you later then", grinned Ron sheepishly and they dragged their trunks down the corridor. She stood there and looked after them, feeling a strange sense of loss.  
"So it's just you and me then?", said a familiar voice behind her.  
Alex stiffened and froze on the spot. She completely forgot about him! The twins were off with Lee, Ginny with her friends, Hermione and Ron with the prefects and she was left alone with none other than Rigel Avery. Alone, just the two of them in a compartment. She wasn't ready. She couldn't just go and sit alone with a person she used to laugh with so much and whom she used to kiss passionately – she stopped thinking about that, even though her heart experienced this weird sensation of a little jump or twitch – she couldn't tell – whenever she thought about him and their summer holidays. She turned to him and stared at the boy. She opened her mouth but closed it again.  
"Alex?" he furrowed his brows, "Are you okay?"  
"Oh – yes – um, we – we should go and find a place"  
Slightly irritated he nodded and looked up and down the corridor, trying to cover his nervousness but Alex was able to see past that cover and past the cool expression on his face.

They searched for some minutes until they were able to find an empty compartment and immediately settled themselves in there.  
He ran his fingers through his black hair nervously and Alex caught herself staring at him.  
As did Rigel and she continued examining his face and his attitude.  
"Don't tell me you're nervous" she grinned, "Not you, not _the_ Rigel Avery"  
The ends of his mouth twitched, "You wanna know the truth then?"  
"Oh please" she said in mock interest, just to annoy him a little.  
He leaned forward, as if telling her his darkest secret and continued in a hushed voice, "I'm scared as hell."  
She erupted in laughter and he joined her, "Oh come on! I'm serious, I've never been more nervous in my life!"  
They continued laughing but the laughter eventually died down again. "Don't worry" she advised. "It's…it's Hogwarts, in the end it always turns out good."  
"Well it didn't the last time I came" he chuckled but she was convinced, "This times will be different"  
"Think so?" he asked and twirled the end of his jumper between his fingers. She nodded convincingly and silence filled the nearly empty compartment.  
He suddenly started grinning at her, "So….what do we do now?"  
She smiled back, "I don't know to be honest"  
"Tell me something about Hogwarts", he requested abruptly and smiled at her in a way he did when she was at the Dursley's.  
"Well what do you want to know?"  
"How are the teachers? I mean I know McGonagall and Snape from _OotP_ but how are they as teachers?"  
She chuckled at his terminology. "OotP?" she asked with raised brows.  
He blushed slightly, "Well you know _the thing_."  
She laughed again, "I know what you mean, Rigel you can say the whole name."  
"It's just an abbreviation"  
"What for?"  
"What for? Are you serious? Obviously for safety reasons."  
"You do realize we're alone in a carriage, right?"  
"You can never be careful enough", he stated with a smug smile.  
She nodded in mock understanding, "Yeah, sure. I mean Voldemort could be crawling any second from under the seats."  
He stared a moment at her, then showed of his dimples again, "Back to the question: How are the teachers like?"  
For a second, she considered taking the mickey again, but she decided otherwise, specifically because of how nervous he was. She remembered how she had wanted to know everything about the teachers, the subjects and the castle when she had been in his position and if someone would have made fun of her, it would have resulted in someone getting shout at.  
"McGonagall is strict, but fair. She values hard work a lot, but nevertheless wants to see a progress. But other than Snape for example she would never bully a student for not knowing something. And Snape is…"  
She made a small break and shook her head bitterly, "Snape is horrible. He's just cold-hearted and will do anything to make your life a living hell. He's a bully and if you take everything he says seriously and you'll end up hating yourself or crying yourself to sleep."  
He furrowed his dark brows, "That bad, huh?"  
"Yes." Alex said and glared out of the window.  
Rigel sighed. He noticed how much this actually got to her.  
"Don't let him bother you, love" Rigel whispered gently and made an unsure movement, as if to lay his arm around her but he froze and lowered his arm awkwardly.  
Her cheeks coloured a little but he didn't comment on it, about which Alex thanked him internally at least a hundred times.  
"What about students?" Rigel continued their conversation as if nothing awkward had happened between them, "Someone in particular that I should avoid or know about?" He wanted to get her to laugh again, in which he actually succeeded.  
Her eyes lit up, "Of now we're getting to the good stuff…"

And so they trailed off talking about Malfoy and his protectors, Crabbe and Goyle, how they would try to embarrass Alex on every possible occasion and how their plans never succeeded. She told him about everyone she got along with, but also mentioned the people she tried her best to avoid, she especially emphasised that he shouldn't even bother talking with most of the Slytherin's, like Parkinson and Bullet. Alex furthermore told him about Smith and then talked about girls, who, rumour has it, used love potions here and there. He would sit there and soak every word of hers, beaming at her, laughing with her, watching her face closely, how her eyes seemed brighter and her smile wider and he loved how she had started trusting him again. The boy smiled at her brightly and just watched her talk, and he already knew that he couldn't wait to make midnight trips to the kitchen with her, maybe even the Astronomy Tower or the Lake? He already started planning ahead was definitely determined to win her over again. A few hours later, they were joined by Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna and Ginny. Those who didn't know Rigel were all introduced to him, who smiled at them kindly and who just seemed relieved that they all accepted him. Whereas the compartment had been quite empty minutes ago, it was now filled to its hilt and it just got better, when Alex bought food for everyone, the mood only dropped when Ron mentioned Malfoy.  
"I'm not going to let him do that anymore!", Ron growled after telling them about how Malfoy misused his position. "I can't wait to give them all punishment"  
There was clearly determination on his face but Hermione cut him off, "So you're basically going to descent to his level?"  
"No" he answered quite calmly, "I'm just making sure that I'll get his mates before he gets mine"  
Alex knew that Malfoy was going to taunt her because of that, she could already see his pointed, pale face laughing that he was prefect and how he would rub it into her nose that she wasn't one. As if he had read her mind, she suddenly saw his face smirking at her from outside the compartment, standing between the tall, bulky and stupid bodyguards.  
He slid the glass door elegantly open and looked down at them.  
"What?" Alex asked aggressively and stood up to face him. She felt her wand in her pocket and was determined to use it, if necessary.  
"Manners Potter" he drawled in an annoying voice, "or I'll give you detention"  
"Huh – "exclaimed Rigel who sat calmly on his seat, "Now I see what you mean, Alex – he's really got an extraordinary annoying voice."  
Malfoy, who hadn't noticed Rigel to begin with, gazed at him closely, his cold eyes narrowing and glaring at him.  
"Who are _you_?"  
Rigel raised his brows, "Rigel – new student."  
Malfoy smirked again and turned to Alex, "You don't really think that a protector – " his eyes fixed tauntingly on Rigel's face again " – is going to stop me giving you detention, Potter?"  
She glared at him and he continued, "You see, I unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments"  
"Yeah," Alex said, "but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone!" As the room erupted in laughter from Alex' friends, his lips curled into an ugly smile.  
"Tell me, Potter," he asked, "how does it feel, being second-best to Weasley?"  
He spat Ron's name as if it was poison and glared at the so called 'blood-traitor' and Alex tensed a little.  
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Rigel claimed and stood up too, he was about a head taller than Malfoy, and Crabbe and Goyles balled their hands into fists at his movement, but he stayed unimpressed by their threats. Being trained by the Order resulted in him being impressively good, fast and strong with spells, he'd take Crabbe and Goyle any time, they made the impression as if they were too stupid to write their own names properly.  
"I seem to have touched a nerve," said Malfoy, his smirk getting wider by second, his hair was silk and combed back and the same colour as his father's hair.  
He turned to leave but then turned around, his eyes staring into Alex' bright hazel ones and he spoke again, "Just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps in case you step out of the line"  
With one last malicious look and after another warning from Rigel they finally left their compartment and strutted down the corridor of the velvet train. But Alex had other worries _. Dogging. Dogging_. This couldn't have been a coincidence, could it? Did Malfoy somehow know about Sirius being an animagus illegally? Considering that he had lost his job and that he wasn't in good terms with the ministry, it could have tremendous consequences if it became public that he had illegally transformed into an animal at a very young age. Could Malfoy's father have somehow figured it out? Would he be able to blackmail Sirius? Alex exchanged a quick look with Hermione, she had understood and had noticed his interesting choice of words as too.  
Still in thoughts, the train soon came to a halt, they changed into their robes and as they left the train with their trunks, the beautiful castle came into sight and it seemed as if all the worries could wait for a minute or two.

 **Hi! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it's been a very long time, but please know that I'm not giving up on this story.  
Reviews are love!**


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